Thousands of nursing home staff who have not been vaccinated twice with the coronavirus will not be able to work legally Nursing home From Thursday, because the government’s mandatory jab policy began to be implemented.
Employees working in registered nursing homes U.K Unless they are granted a medical exemption, they must continue to function with two jabs starting Thursday.
It is expected that the official data released in the afternoon will show that as of November 7, four days before the deadline, more than 50,000 existing staff in nursing homes have not been recorded as being vaccinated with the two vaccines.
It is understood that thousands of them have self-certified as medical exemptions or have applied for formal certification.
It is understood that more than half of those who have not received two injections before November 7 have already received one injection.
Health officials expect that the number of double-vaccinated workers will increase in the three days from Sunday to Thursday.
It is not clear how many employees resigned due to requests.
British National Medical Service System Data as of the end of October showed that the number of staff in nursing homes in England has fallen by more than 4,000 since the deadline for the first dose in mid-September, although this may be caused by a variety of reasons.
Staff who are not vaccinated after the deadline will face unemployment, but nursing home providers can choose to redeploy staff to non-frontline positions (if any), or let them take paid or unpaid leave until they are vaccinated twice vaccine.
Until Wednesday, the nursing group also called for the deadline to be postponed to April next year, saying that the “no injections, no work” policy was equivalent to “no employees, no care.”
The move comes at a time when nursing homes are facing unprecedented staff shortages. Some people have asked to resign early, while others are expected to work in the last few days of the week.
As industries that provide better salaries and working hours, such as hotels and retail, prove to be more popular, recruiting and retaining talent is also difficult.
The government has allocated 162.5 million pounds to help solve the labor problem and launched a nationwide recruitment campaign last week to fill more than 100,000 social care job vacancies.
Nursing groups say that the shortage means that some families cannot accept hospitalized patients who are ready to be discharged, and as winter approaches, staff are facing increasing pressure and they may be exhausted.
A paramedic who was unemployed due to demand said he was “disappointed, abandoned, betrayed” and worried about the future of the nursing industry.
A manager who lost one-sixth of her employees said she saw “heartbreaking” resignation letters from long-term employees who did not want to leave.
The National Nursing Association stated that vaccines are a key part of controlling the virus, but the unintended consequence of mandatory policies will be “no staff and no nursing.”
Executive Chairman Nadra Ahmed said: “During the critical winter, we deprived us of the ability to retain experienced employees, which shows that we lack the value of social care for those who receive our services. learn.
“The NHS will work hard to get out of the emergency department and into a safe environment where people can get support at critical moments in their lives.”
Another member organization, the National Nursing Forum (NCF), stated that nursing homes are involved in disciplinary proceedings, manage appeals and seek expert legal advice on the request.
Members reported that it took “a lot of time” to implement the policy, almost all of them held additional staff briefings and required additional human resources.
They estimate that an average of 3.5% of employees have resigned or been fired, and an estimated 4.4% of employees may have to leave this week-NCF said the industry “cannot afford” this loss.
One interviewee said that comforting residents who are upset by seeing long-term employees leave is the “worst thing” they have to do in their 22-year career.
A spokesperson added: “We have consulted and worked closely with the department to encourage vaccination before the deadline.
“Since the consultation was announced, the first dose vaccination rate for nursing home staff has risen from 80% to 94%.
“We are working closely with local authorities and nursing home providers to ensure that there are always enough staff with the appropriate skills to provide high-quality care.”
